ENLIGHTENMENT -IN THE LIGHT OF UPANISHADS

Enlightenment, let’s understand at the very outset- is open to all. The only requisite is the seeking .Or, in truth, if I am to give it to you even more precisely – there are no requirements whatsoever, since, it is within the reach of EACH & EVERYTHING – Yes, I do not even say “every one”, but “every thing”.

Unfortunately, we have made it all so very complicated that we have duped ourselves completely to believe that it’s something to be attained by someone specially qualified. Oh! We love creating differences and creating a hierarchy of superiors and then, stand apart to worship them, thus spoiling the whole beautiful simplicity of the truth.

Let’s now enter the Upanishad.

It begins with a question:

Kenesitam patati presitam manah

Kena pranah prahtamah preiti yuktah l

Kenesitam vacamimam vadanti

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Caksuh srotram ka u devo yunakti ll

i.e.,

“Whose wish makes the mind move towards thought? By whose wish does the first breath begin to operate ? Whose wish makes one speak these words ? Who is the light that shines in the eyes and ears in their functioning”.

Everyone experiences that without anyone’s effort or intention, mind thinks thoughts, breathing mechanism operates and goes on until death, eyes see and ears hear. An impairment of these functions generally amounts to deceased condition of the being. Now, whose wish operates all these functions, if it is not our present conscious ego ?

“Ego” is the name given to the conscious that expresses in each one as “I” and in each-one identifies to the Physico-Psycho individual therein. Even before this ego begins functioning, in the mother’s womb, the embryo’s heart begins to beat. And in a full formed foetus, thought process also begins; the baby feels, moves, reacts and responds within the womb. Now, whose wish is operating all this ?

In sleep, in a dreamless sleep, the ego function is shut off temporarily. Yet the breathing goes on and the body is alive. Who is taking care here ? Whose wish operates ? In dream, while the body is lying asleep, who is it that brings the mental pictures of dreams –seeing, hearing, speaking, making it all appear very real to experience ?

This question brings within itself an answer that’s not to be missed. Any sincere question contains within itself the answer. When questions require any other verbal answer, they are either for information or for argumentation. A deep question however, has within itself the answer.

When you are asking here “By whose wish ……” look deep at the question and, into it. The word “Who” or “Whose” reveals an Intensely Powerful Presence. An undeniable something that inspires Awe and Wonder. An Immense Reality that is so very full of Power and the one which is the VERY LIFE of what all, we call as “life”.

This presence is with - as well as in -, everyone and everything. Enlightenment is being attuned to it. Enlightenment is becoming AWARE – aware of this fact and shifting the identity from one’s ego to this fact. That is the true meaning of surrender and the true meaning of being rooted in one’s self.